Jack of All Trades
by UntitledCartoonUser
Summary: Danny didn't know why he volunteered to go into the portal for him. Maybe it was because he wasn't used the man being upset or disappointed, but he digressed.
1. Chapter 1

"Alright Mads, just plug 'er in, and we will see the entrance to another dimension!" Jack's voice boomed throughout the lab.

Maddie gave a thumbs up, and picked up the two black cables needed to turn on the device. The scientists' children, Danny and Jazz, were on the steps, eavesdropping so they could understand what was going on.

"You think it's actually gonna work?" the younger of the two, Danny, whispered to his sister.

She scoffed quietly. "No way. Ghosts don't exist, remember? This is all just some fantasy that they are too obsessed with."

Danny hesitated to respond. "Look, they are about to plug it in."

What he said was true. Jack took the two plugs from Maddie, gave a wide smile, then connected them together. The portal whirled to life, the sounds of gears rotating and the power turning on brought nervous excitement to the whole family, even the ever-so-optimistic Jazz. They all waited, holding their breaths.

It sparked once, yet nothing else happened.

Maddie frowned. "That can't be right. We spent years on these calculations and designs. It shouldn't have fizzed out like that. Perhaps some wires are crossed?" she mumbled, going over to a lab table to look over notes. "All of these numbers are correct. What went wrong?"

Jack looked like he was ready to bawl. "Maddie, nothing is wrong. It should be working. We fought too hard for this to not work." He fell to his knees. "What happened?"

His wife dropped the notes and walked over to her husband, rubbing his back. "C'mon Jack, we can go over the design again after a snack. We are all out of fudge, but I can go buy some if you'd like?"

He only nodded.

Maddie sighed and started to walk towards the stairs. Jazz and Danny scrambled out of the lab quickly, making sure their mother wouldn't see them. Said woman stopped halfway up the stairs, glancing back at her husband, who was just staring into the useless hole in the wall. She shook her head sadly, then finished going up the stairs, and into the kitchen where her two children were sitting inconspicuously.

Danny sat upright. "Uh, how'd it go?"

"Not so well. Your father is very disappointed, actually. I'm going to the store to buy him some of his favorite fudge to cheer him up," his mom replied, slightly turning back to the stairs. "Poor man."

"Maybe it didn't work because _ghosts don't exist_?" Jazz calmly yet firmly retaliated.

"Jazzy, sweetie, we've been over this. The things that we do may seem unorthodox, but it's all in the name of science. We've gathered plenty of evidence that they do exist, ectoplasm samples, eye witnesses, you name it. The reason ghosts aren't as common as they could be is because portals to our world don't naturally appear often, but this portal could chance all of that! We could find a specimen in two minutes flat, dissect it, then-"

"And that's enough of that." Jazz held her hands up as she rose from the kitchen chair. "I'm going out. I'll be at the library, researching insanity."

She left without another word.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm gonna, uh, go check on dad."

"Sure hon, go ahead," the ghost hunter sighed as walked towards the door. "He could use some cheering up."

She left, too.

Danny sat awkwardly at the kitchen table for a good two minutes before standing up. He headed towards the lab, walking down the stairs and into the cold basement. "Dad?" he called out. He didn't get an answer, so he walked over towards Jack on the ground, still staring at the portal. "Dad, are you okay?"

Jack blinked. "Oh, sure, Dann-o. I'm just a little upset! Nothing can stop me, Jack Fenton from fixing it, though!"

Danny glanced at the portal, squinting his eyes, trying to see into the black hole. "Maybe there's something wrong on the inside. I could check, if you want?" he offered, knowing full well he had no idea what to look for if there was an issue.

"I don't know, son. It could be very dangerous, going into a machine like this." He gestured to said machine. "I couldn't risk that."

"C'mon dad, I'm offering. If you told me what to look for, then I could actually help you!" He pointed out, smiling to his dad in a confident manner. However, on the inside, he was freaking out. Why on Earth did he volunteer to do this? This was stupid. He wasn't a scientist, he didn't know what was wrong with the stupid portal? Why did he-

"Really?" Jack's eager face brought him out of his thoughts. That's why, it wasn't natural for his dad to be in such a bad mood. "If you really want to, then you have to wear a little something!" He stood up and ran over to a box on the side of the metal wall. He rummaged through it, and his son walked over and looked over his shoulder. The ghost hunter pulled out a hazmat suit, white with black gloves, boots, collar, and belt. It also had Jack's face on it, much to Danny's amusement and confusion.

"Do I have to?" he groaned, looking at the fabric.

"Absolutely. I don't want any ectoplasmic residue infecting you, kiddo! Just to be on the safe side!" He nodded, shoving the suit into Danny's hands.

He sighed. "Fine, fine." He turned around and took his shoes off, then unzipped the suit. He quickly got dressed, and with his back still turned, tore off the Jack face. _No offense, dad, but no thank you_. He turned back around with a strained smile. "Okay, I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Jack gave a thumbs up. "I believe in you, Danny!"

Danny started towards the portal, gulping as he did so. _This is stupid_, he thought. He was right outside of the portal, then hesitated to go on. "Is it safe?" he called back.

"Sure is, I just unplugged it!" Jack held up a white cable. "Just look for some loose wiring, a faulty gear, or something of that sort."

Danny smiled back and nodded, his fear leaving him knowing the portal was unplugged. He finally stepped foot into it, making a shiver go down his spine. Something wasn't right, but he could not place it. He didn't know what was wrong, so he cautiously took a couple more steps in, the light leaving his eyes. He squinted at the walls, trying to pinpoint the issue. He softly touched the wall, dragging it as he continued to walk. He stopped when he touched a box jutting out from the actual wall, but he couldn't see what was on it.

Meanwhile, Jack on the outside was anxious. On one hand, he couldn't wait to see if Danny could find something. On the other, his son was in a very dangerous situation. But, the white plug he held in his hand showed that he had nothing to worry about. He nodded, content with this fact.

Wait.

White plug?

Jack's eyes followed the cable towards where it was connected to. It ended up being a Bunsen burner, much to his dismay. The color drained from his face, and he quickly looked back over to the portal.

"DANNY, GET OUT OF-"

And Danny screamed as the portal turned on.


	2. Chapter 2

"And Jack, remember there is casserole in the fridge, and-"

"Yes Mads, I know," Jack pouted from the doorway. "No fudge after eight o'clock."

"Right. Where's Danny?"

Jack nervously smiled. "He's, uh, in the kitchen?"

Danny was, in fact, in the kitchen. Literally. He was halfway through the kitchen floor, trying not to have a panic attack. He was trying to push himself back up using his arms that were still above the floor, which he succeeded in. However, his legs hadn't turned tangible yet, so he awkwardly lied on his back with his legs in the air. Danny let out a long breath, then rubbed his face with his hands. Why him?

"Danny, come say goodbye!" His mother called, right as his legs turned tangible once more.

Joy.

He got up and walked very carefully towards Maddie, constantly trying to not turn himself invisible, intangible, or float by accident. He smiled at her, but it looked more like a grimace, yet his mom didn't notice. He walked down the stairs to his house, quickly glancing at Jack. He swiftly hugged his mom then dashed back into the house, almost running into his sister. Danny yelled an apology then ran upstairs.

Maddie sighed. "He's been so on edge since the accident a week ago. Remind him to change those wrappings on his arms for the burns, okay hun?"

"You got it, baby," Jack nodded, already knowing the burns had healed. "Have fun at your… your…" he tapped his chin.

"Psychology convention, dad," Jazz answered as she walked past him with her bags. "It's for research for my college thesis at the end of the year. Better start sooner than later and be prepared." She put her baggage into the Fenton RV, then glanced back at her dad. "Take care of Danny, alright?"

Jack saluted. "You got it, Jazzy-pants."

Maddie got into the RV with Jazz riding shotgun, and started it up. They both waved goodbye to him, then sped out of the driveway. Jack sighed and rubbed his arm, before walking back into the house. "Dann-o? You in here?" His voice boomed. He heard footsteps, a door opening, and finally saw his son walk down the stairs. Jack grinned at him. "You ready?"

He sighed in reply. "As I'll ever be."

Jack and his son both walked towards the lab, going down the steps into the cold basement. Jack flipped the light switch on while Danny walked to the middle of the lab, preparing himself mentally. And physically. He didn't really know. He was just preparing himself. His dad finished walking down the stairs and pushed some tables away from the middle of the room, just to make way for whatever could come. He turned to his son and gave an encouraging smile and a thumbs up.

Danny closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

And transformed.

A silver halo appeared around his waist, splitting into two and traveling up and down. His normal clothing turned into a black jumpsuit with white accents, his skin tanned, and his ears turned pointy. When he opened his eyes, they were a toxic neon green. He smiled nervously at his dad, who just looked at him with a smile.

"Danny," he sighed. "I won't hurt you."

"B-But you hate ghosts," he stuttered, wincing at the echo in his voice. "Why don't you hate me?"

"You're my kid, Danny," Jack stated proudly as he put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Whether you're a ghost, boy, or something in between."

Danny smiled a real smile this time, and hugged his dad. "Thanks."

"Not a problem, son." Jack pulled away from the hug. "Alright, let's figure some stuff out, eh? So, what do we already know from this past week?"

Danny thought for a moment. "I, uh, can vanish, go through things, and float. That's it, I think." Right as he said that, he vanished from sight.

Jack jumped a little bit, before relaxing. "Danny, was that intentional?"

"...Yes?"

"I don't believe you," Jack crossed his arms. "A ghost has those three powers usually by default, unless they are an extremely low level ghost. So, it's not unusual that you can do this stuff." He tapped his chin.

"This is fascinating, dad, but I really don't know how my powers work." Danny's disembodied voice rang through his ears. "Help?"

"Ah, right! My bad. So, people who have claimed to have been turned invisible by ghosts have said that they feel a cold sensation. Try feeling warmer, or something along those lines."

A couple of seconds later, Danny appeared with a large grin. "It worked! Wow, that makes it so much easier." He flickered in and out of visibility a couple of times. "This is getting cooler."

"Great job, Dann-o!" Jack clapped Danny on the back, making him lurch forward. "Let's try intangibility next."

"What's that again?"

"Going through things."

"Oh. Right. What do I do?"

Jack was silent for a second, thinking about what to say. "I think our studies have found that when intangible, you feel all tingly. Like when you're foot is asleep, for example." Jack walked over to a table with some notes on it. "We don't have as many notes on that one, bud."

"Well I have my own personal ones," Danny grumbled a reply. "It feels like moving through jell-o, except the jell-o doesn't exist and everything sucks." He started to float subconsciously.

Jack turned back around. "Well that's not a very positive way to look at things." He glanced at his son floating in front of him, and grinned. "You're floating."

"No I'm n- woah!" Danny's eyes widened as he glanced at the ground. "I am. Oh geez, how'd I do that? Oh man…"

"You're only a couple of inches off the ground, don't worry about it," his father waved it off. He walked back over to Danny and crossed his arms. "Ghosts tend to float, even if they aren't aware of it. It's kind of second nature, like breathing for humans."

"Speaking of breathing," Danny realized after a couple of minutes of being in his ghost form, "I haven't been breathing. Like, at all."

"Makes sense, considering you are half ghost now," Jack mumbled. He looked awkwardly around the room, avoiding eye contact with his son. "I'm sorry again, Danny. If it wasn't for me you'd-"

"Dad, stop blaming yourself," Danny interrupted as he floated over to his dad. He grinned sadly, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was my idea to go into the portal in the first place, so it was my fault."

They were silent for a couple of minutes, the only sound being Jack's breathing and a couple of sounds from machines whirring. Suddenly Danny turned intangible, and he squealed. He would deny it later, but he most certainly squealed in shock.

"Calm down," Jack stated, helping his son out. "Concentrate. Try to remember what it feels like when your arm is normal instead of intangible."

Danny closed his eyes, and after a moment or two, his body turned tangible again. He sighed in relief. "Oh thank God. I hate that feeling." He looked at his dad. "Do you think I could turn other things like that too?"

"I'm sure you can, you can try on me if you'd like." Jack offered, giving an encouraging smile to his son.

Danny concentrated on landing, which he was successful in. He walked over to his dad and placed a gloved hand on his arm, making his father jump. The ghost kid quickly pulled his hand back and gave a worried look to him. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing, you're just really cold," Jack observed. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "I have an idea after this. It's just a hunch, but I really think I found something out."

Danny still looked unsure, but placed his hand back on his dad's arm. He stuck out his tongue in concentration, and managed to turn his arm and his father's arm invisible. He pulled his arm away and fist pumped. "I did it! Awesome!" Danny suddenly sighed, his eyes half-closing. "...I'm pretty tired." He then transformed, lurching forward. Jack quickly caught his son then stood him upright.

"Stay up, kiddo. We can do a little more without you being in your ghost form."

The half ghost nodded, smiling lazily. He yawned and rubbed his eyes while his father walked back over to his notes. After looking over the papers, the scientist rummaged through some boxes on the side of the table. Danny walked over to his dad and hopped onto the same table with the notes. Jack finally pulled out a stethoscope and a thermometer. Average doctor stuff.

"What's that stuff for?" Danny asked.

"To check your heartbeat and temperature. If my hunch is correct, the temperature thing should prove it. Heartbeat is just something extra, you know?"

"Oh."

Jack put the stethoscope into his ears and started to analyze his kid. After about a minute, he took the equipment off him. "Hm."

"Is it bad?"

"It's definitely low, that's for sure. I dunno what the average heart rate for a kid your age is, but I know for a fact that thirty beats a minute is _not_ normal."

Danny winced. "So I'm a freak?"

Jack looked at him incredulously. "A _freak_? Why would you say that about yourself? Danny, you're a smart kid, and now you have ghost powers! I'd say that's pretty unique rather than a freak. I'd never consider you one. You're my boy, Dann-o! Just because you have some ectoplasm running through your veins now doesn't mean you are a freak."

Danny blinked. Then he slowly smiled. "Wow. Thanks, dad."

"Not a problem, son." Jack smiled back, then held up a thermometer. "Now, would you mind?"

Danny took the thermometer from his dad and stuck it in his mouth. Again, after a minute passed, it beeped. He took it out and looked at it. "...that's, uh, really low."

His dad snuck a peek at it. "Just like I thought. Sixty-five degrees is way below the average heat for a human, and I'd assume it would be lower in your ghost form. I think my hypothesis is right, Danny!"

"Which is?"

"Oh, right, I never told you," Jack smacked his face. Recuperating himself, he went through his notes and showed Danny a page. "This was something Mads and I were studying a couple of weeks ago. Every ghost has a core, which is kind of like a ghost heart in a way. Our research concluded that most ghosts fall into different categories for what type of core they have. For example, a ghost that uses fire powers and has an above average temperature than humans probably has a heat core or a plasma core, since that's what their attacks would be based on."

Danny looked over at the notes, which showed a bunch of different drawings of cores and different types all in a list. "That's really awesome. So not all ghosts are cold like me?"

"No, we don't think so. Mads said that realistically, if a ghost was using fire to attack or destroy something, would it make sense that they were cold?"

"I guess not," Danny shrugged. "So what do you think I am?"

"Looking through these types that we discovered, I'd say you have an ice core. It makes the most sense, really," Jack answered, showing a crudely drawn picture of a core with icicles on it. He winced when his son gave him a look. "We've never really had a core to draw from reference, so we had to improvise."

Danny looked up at his dad. "Does that mean I can do stuff with ice? Or snow? Or both?"

"Probably. It make take a couple of months to fully develop your core though, since you're a newer ghost." He paused. "Well, half ghost. My point still stands!"

"That's so _cool_." Danny grinned cheekily. "Heh. Ice pun."

"Let me know if anything develops, okay, Danny?" Jack put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "I want to help you out with this. Imagine going through this without a parent or an adult figure to help you out. Or worse, other _teenagers_."

"Yeah, it'd probably be hell."

"Language," Jack reprimanded.

"Sorry. _Heck_." Danny put up his hands in a surrender pose. He then went intangible, and yelped as he fell through the table and into the floor. Jack jumped a bit in surprise as he watched his son move through solid objects. Danny reappeared a moment later, floating back through the table and turning tangible. "Ugh, this isn't getting any easier," he groaned, lying his back on the lab table.

"It will soon, I'm sure of it. Then you can use them to help me hunt _ghosts_!" Jack grinned, already starting to plan it out in his head. "Imagine us two going around and hunting ghosts together! Quality bonding time with your old man!"

"Woah woah woah woah," Danny stopped his dad from rambling any further. "Who said anything about ghost hunting? I'd honestly rather have these powers gone, they exhaust me."

"Danny, think about it for a second," Jack stated after a moment's pause. "You have these amazing powers that you could use for the greater good, and you can't exactly… _get rid of them_."

"Why not?" He whined. "Can't you get rid of them? You're a scientist!"

"Yes, I am, but besides being ectoplasm, what _is_ a ghost?"

Danny's eyes widened. "Oh. They're dead."

"Right. You're not _dead_, but you aren't _alive_, either. You're Schrödinger's teenager, and you can't exactly remove that."

Danny let out a long breath. "That really puts it into perspective, huh? Well what if I just go back into the portal a second time?"

Jack looked at him with a blank expression. "And what? Electrocute yourself again? How would that even work?"

"Oh. Nevermind." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I'm stuck with these, huh?" He sighed, then looked at his dad again. Jack had done so much for him already, not only accepting him, but helping him learn what he can and can't do. It honestly made Danny extremely happy that he had his dad to help him, since he didn't really have any friends. Actually, scratch that, he _didn't_ have any friends, more like acquaintances. He was a loner in middle school, sat with no one during lunch or classes, and would rather be in his science class to do some experiments rather than hang out after school. He was a loner in every sense of the word, and while he did have his parents before hand, they weren't exactly as close as they could have been. This whole experience has brought Danny and his father even closer, even if it has only been a week. He looked at the wrappings on his arms before ripping them off, realizing that they didn't hurt. They were completely healed, and he glanced at his dad and grinned. "Okay. I'll do it."

"Do what?" Jack asked, tilting his head to the side like a puppy.

"Ghost hunt. Teach me how."


	3. Chapter 3

Danny glared at his foe in front of him. The putrid, bland, white color it was made him even grumpier. There was no way he was getting out of this one alive. Or, at least, less alive than he already was. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward onto the walkway up to his enemy.

School.

He nervously walked towards the front doors, glancing at people as he passed by them. He could do this. He had his powers for a whole month now, and because of his dad helping him out with controlling them, he rarely randomly turned invisible or started to float. Sure, it happened occasionally, but not as nearly as often as it did during the first couple of days or weeks. Thank God the accident happened a month before school, otherwise he could have been moving through walls or blowing shit up on accident.

Oh, yeah. His dad explained that all ghosts are made of ectoplasm, and most could manifest it through body parts to form a blast. Danny could, in fact, do it, but it drained him of his energy way quicker than just turning invisible or something along those lines. Jack had looked so proud when Danny had made his hand glow in a ghostly green energy, not to mention cause his first explosion. His mom was in the kitchen at that point, and it almost blew their cover, but her husband had a tendency to be a little more clumsy in the lab. So, he made the perfect scapegoat. Not in a bad way or anything.

Speaking of his dad, the training with him had been going well for the most part. Jazz had seemed a little more suspicious of the fact that they were hanging out so much, but finally concluded that it was good for Danny's mental health that he was connecting with his dad well. With Jazz a _little_ off his tail, it was way easier to train in private without someone butting in and seeing Danny glow inhumanly. They had worked on powers, for the most part, but Jack taught Danny quite a lot about ghost biology. On the other side of the coin, Danny taught Jack a lot about ghosts. Before the accident, Jack would have brushed off the mere thought of a ghost with emotions, let alone the feeling of pain, but after seeing his son as a ghost, those thoughts were thrown out the window.

Danny still laughed as a ghost. He cried a _lot_ after the accident, especially because of the pain it had caused. His dad felt guilty, even after Danny explained that it wasn't his fault. Nevertheless, ghosts had emotions and could feel pain. Jack then declared that he still had a lot to learn about ghosts, and that maybe even more benevolent ghosts exist. With his powers under control better than ever and his injuries all healed up, school was looking a tad more promising.

But it was still school.

Glancing at his schedule and locker number, he groaned when he realized that he had English first, which was his worst subject. Moving towards his locker, he noticed that it seemed more dirty and beat up than the ones surrounding it. Cool, even his own _locker_ looked half dead. It was number 724. The ghost kid put in his combination, and immediately his ghost sense went off. Danny still was not used to the feeling, and the first time it actually happened was when an Ectopus threatened to tear his dad's arm off. That was a fun day.

Back to the present, Danny was on alert. It probably had something to do with his locker, since it only happened when he started to touch the damn thing.

"Ah, you got _that_ locker."

Danny jumped and swivelled around, frightened by the voice that came out of nowhere. Behind him was a kid, probably a freshman as well. He was African American with a stupid red beret-looking hat and a yellow sweater. Danny raised an eyebrow at him, not knowing what he was talking about. He voiced this.

"There's a legend about that locker. It's supposedly haunted by a kid who committed suicide or something in the fifties," the other teen shrugged. "But ghosts don't exist, so it's just a myth. Anyway, I don't think we've met before." He held out his hand. "The name's Tucker Foley, or TF, as in _too fine_."

Danny snorted and shook Tucker's hand. "I'm Danny Fenton. Nice to meet you."

"Dude, you're hand is _freezing_!" Tucker exclaimed. "Also, Fenton? As in the crazy ghost hunters that chase imaginary creatures?"

Danny winced and gave him a hard stare. "Yes. Them."

Realizing he struck a nerve, Tucker backed off. "Sorry man, didn't mean to offend or anything. Just kinda insane, y'know?"

"Yeah. I get it."

They stood awkwardly for a minute before Tucker checked the time on his electronic device. "We have ten minutes until class starts. What do you have first?"

"I, uh, have English with Mr. Lancer."

"Dude, same! We could totally sit together," Tucker grinned, making Danny smile back. Okay, maybe the first day of school wouldn't be so bad. "I gotta get to my locker, but I'll see you later, man!" The kid then walked away, leaving Danny alone in the hallway. Everyone was probably loitering outside still, considering they still had plenty of time before school actually started.

Danny turned back towards his locker, and his ghost sense went off again. He finally opened it, revealing nothing but a mirror. "Hello?" He questioned, glancing in the mirror itself.

Suddenly an image of a boy appeared, but he was in monochromatic colors and looked like he was dressed from decades ago. "U-Uh, what's buzzin', cousin?" He appeared nervous, not like a menacing ghost that his dad always seemed to describe before the accident. He looked extremely _human_, to say the least.

Danny stared at the ghost, not knowing exactly what to say. "...What?" He said intelligently.

"...how are you?"

"Oh." Danny blinked. "Oh." He rubbed the back of his neck with the hand not on the locker door. "I'm fine. Who're you?"

The ghost looked shocked that Danny was talking to him, never mind the fact that he was in a mirror. "Sidney Poindexter, Clyde! Wowie, I haven't had someone genuinely talk to me in quite a while!" He looked ecstatic, but then suddenly frowned. "Wait, are you here to try to destroy my locker? 'Cuz I won't stand for bullies! If you're cruisin' for a bruisin', then I swear I'll-"

"Woah, dude! I'm not here to destroy anything!" Danny put up his hands in surrender. "And my name isn't Clyde, it's Danny."

"Oh, oops. Well Danny, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance!" Sidney resumed his smile. "What brings you to my locker?" He paused. "Wait, how'd you know I was here, anyway?"

"For your first question, I was assigned it for school," Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "And uh, I'm kinda half ghost?"

Sidney's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped a little. "Golly, I didn't even know that was possible! That's whack, man! Super cool!" The ghost grinned.

Just as the last sentence was muttered, Danny was forced against his will into his locker. It was slammed shut with muffled laughter in the background. Danny grunted as he was crammed into the space, before his eyes turned green in anger. Sidney looked on in worry, before finally speaking. "What was that all about?"

"Probably Dash, some stuck up jock that likes picking on me." His eyes stayed burning green. "Ugh, he did this to me all the time in middle school. I thought he'd move past that."

Sidney suddenly turned angry. "They're _bullies_?! I can't believe you didn't flip yet, that's so uncool!"

"Yeah, well, I wish I could get him back," Danny muttered, still unsure if Dash was right outside of his locker listening in.

"Wouldn't that make you a bully too?" Sidney looked right at Danny.

Danny paused a bit, looking back at the ghost. "Yeah, I guess so." He suddenly turned intangible and invisible at the same time (which took him a long time to get right during training), making Sidney gasp in shock. He poked his head out the locker, and seeing the retreating back of Dash Baxter, completely phased out of it. "Well that sucks. My first day and he's already targeting me," he stated after opening his locker again. "You said you hated bullies, right?"

Sidney looked uncomfortable, "Yes, they, uh, did stuff to me when I was alive."

"...do you think a few harmless pranks could be considered bullying?"

Sidney grinned this time. "No. I do not."

Danny grinned back. "Awesome. Maybe not yet, since it's the first day of school and all." He checked his watch, noticing the bell was about to ring. "I'll talk to you later, Sidney. I've gotta go." He placed his backpack into the locker, but not before grabbing a binder and a couple of writing utensils. "Bye!"

"Catch ya on the flipside, halfa!"

With that, he closed the door and started to walk to his class. He pondered on Sidney's words, a halfa. _Is that what I am? A 'halfa'? Well, it is certainly easier to say than half ghost all the time, that's for sure_. He mused over these thoughts as he finally arrived to his class, right as the bell rang. He noticed Tucker sitting in the back row alone, so Danny gladly walked over and took a seat in the back corner. Tucker gave a wave as more students filed in, including a girl wearing all black deciding to sit right in front of Danny. The teacher finally walked in, a bald middle-aged man with a little too much stomach. He cleared his throat to grab the attention of the class, which he succeeded in.

"Alright, good morning, students! Welcome to your first day of high school at Casper High," he started. "My name is Mr. Lancer, and to start class, we will do some ice breakers." The class groaned, which made him raise an eyebrow. "Or we could jump right in to _Catcher in the Rye_, whichever you prefer." They were suddenly silent. "Great. Each person will come up to the front and say a couple of things about themselves, then we will go over what the year will look like."

An extremely attractive girl went up first, wearing a pink top and skinny jeans. She started going into detail about her family fortune, then into her makeup routine, somehow. Lancer cut her off after the second sentence was uttered about eyeshadow use. She went back to her seat in a huff, glaring at the man. Person after person went up. Danny flinched when Dash glared at him, probably wondering how he got out of his locker so quickly. Ah, the perks of ghost powers.

It was his turn after the girl in black.

"Hi. I'm Sam Manson. I like black. Call me Samantha and I'll kick you."

She sat back down.

Lancer sternly looked at her before speaking. "Ms. Manson, please drop the attitude. School may be the last place you want to be right now, but at least try to maintain _some_ respect." Sam either didn't hear or completely ignored him. "Okay then, last but not least."

Danny stood up and walked to the front, but not before Dash decided to trip him, causing him to fall flat on his stomach. He grunted and pushed himself up, ignoring all of the laughter coming from the class. Lancer hushed them and motioned for Danny to start talking.

"I-I'm Danny," he stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I, um, like space and science?" He grinned sheepishly at Lancer. "That's kind of it, really…"

"C'mon Fenton!" Dash heckled. "Why don't you talk about _your family_?"

"Good suggestion, Dash!" Mr. Lancer praised, looking at the ghost kid for a response.

Danny groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. "They'reghosthuntersandliketostudyghosts." He muttered, all in one breath. "Can I sit down now?"

Lancer blinked, clearly shocked by what he heard. "...They _hunt ghosts_?"

Danny somehow seemed to shrink down even more. "...shouldn't Jazz have told you this...?"

"She never mentioned anything about her home life," the teacher replied.

"Gee, I wonder why," Dash called from the front desk with a smirk.

Danny huffed and started to walk back to his seat, making sure to avoid any feet that may be trying to trip him. He sat in his seat, aware that all eyes were on him. Finally, everyone finished introducing themselves, and class could start. Lancer started to hand out a syllabus and go over it, but Danny stopped paying attention at that point. He was pissed at Dash, making the class think that he and his parents were probably insane. Glancing at his hand and quickly turning it invisible and back, he knew for certain that he was not insane. Hell, he was probably one of the least crazy kids in this class, knowing Dash and Kwan and all of the jocks. Jerks.

As soon as class started, it was over. Danny knew that he had about five minutes between classes, so he decided to go back to his locker and speak to Sidney. He put in his combo, knocked on the mirror's side, and Sidney responded by appearing with a smile. "Howdy, pal!"

"Hey, Sidney," Danny replied. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw a couple people in the hall. Thinking quickly, he put his phone to his ear as to not make it look like he was speaking to his locker. He looked back at Sidney with a grin. "Nice to see you again."

"To you as well! How'd your first class go?"

Danny winced. "Dash, uh, tripped me and humiliated me in class. It was fun."

"Bummer, Danny," Sidney frowned in sympathy. "I know what it's like to be a victim to bullying up the wazoo. It ain't a good time." Sidney realized the conversation was going south, so he quickly changed the topic. "So, this half-ghost thing. How's that work?"

Danny fidgeted with the locker door. "It was my parents' ghost portal," he whispered so people couldn't overhear. "I went in and got electrocuted. My dad knows, though. He's been helping me out."

"Aw man, that sounds crazy. Hope you're okay!"

"Yeah, I am, actually. He's been training me to better control my powers, and all of the equipment in the lab. He's kind of a ghost hunter, but he's actually changing his ways in how he thinks of 'em." Danny smiled, but then realized he had to go. "Um, chemistry is coming up, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Bye!"

Next up was his favorite class, chemistry. He grinned, as being the son of two scientists comes with a lot of previous science knowledge. The halfa ended up on the same lab table as the Sam girl, and she paid him no mind. He appreciated that, he really did. The chick kind of scared him, and she glared when he accidentally dropped a beaker from turning his hand intangible. Oops, at least it was only one, plus his teacher stated that someone always breaks glass on the first day, so it wasn't completely out of the ordinary. Danny happily went back to his locker to have a chat with Sidney at the end of class, glad to be away from the glass that he broke.

This was basically the whole day. He'd have class, try not to accidentally go invisible or intangible, Dash would pick on him a bit, then he'd go talk to Sidney afterwards. He finally ended up in his last class, which was gym. All of the students got different lockers in gym, so Danny couldn't talk to Sidney, unfortunately. The ghost kid had grabbed his bag from his normal locker (well, as normal as a haunted locker could be) and put it in his gym one.

He was instantly shoved into it by none other than Dash Baxter.

"Take that, Fenton! You've been annoying me all day, so you got what you deserved!" his stupid voice rang through his ears. Danny's eyes glowed green in anger as Dash's laughter started to disappear. He phased out of the locker, knowing that no one else was in there if Dash had left. Danny started shaking in anger, hands balling into fists. He wanted to punch something, strike something, just to get his aggravation out. So he did. The halfa punched the wall.

His hand went straight through it.

Danny yelped in shock and pulled his hand back, inspecting it for damage. Surprisingly, there was none, but he couldn't say the same for the wall. There was a fist-sized hole straight through to the inside of the gym, which made Danny realize that the gym teacher probably noticed.

"What on _Earth_ is going on here?"

Oh, shit.

He quickly turned invisible right as the teacher burst into the boy's locker room. She was a tall, burly woman that obviously didn't care that she was in a place only for guys. Danny held his breath as the woman looked at the hole, with the rest of the gym peering into the room, even the girls. He then realized that he was still technically supposed to be in his locker, so he quickly phased back into it. He started pounding on the locker, shouting to be let out. The gym teacher complied, letting him out as he roughly landed on his chest.

"Uh, thank you," he spoke as he stood up.

"What's your name, boy?" the buff woman replied.

"It's, uh, Danny Fenton," he rubbed his neck. "Sorry about that, ma'am."

By now, everyone was in the locker room, excluding the girls (who were outside the door looking in). The boys gaped at the hole in the wall while Dash looked confused. He had been the last one in there, after all.

"Who did this?" the teacher pointed to the hole. "Furthermore, _how_ did they do this?" Shouts of denial were heard throughout the room, aggravating the teacher even more. She yelled at them to calm down and shut up, which they did.

"Sorry, Ms. Tetslaff." They all spoke in unison.

"Now, who was the last one in here, besides Fenton?" she jabbed a thumb behind her to motion to the ghost boy. "He couldn't have done it, since he was in the locker and all. And his noodle arms couldn't break a twig."

Danny looked somewhat offended, but stayed calm. He supposed that it was a good thing that he was off the radar for the hole, but the insult still hurt. Jerk.

Almost everyone looked at Dash, and he chuckled nervously. "But I was in the gym when it happened! I'm innocent! Plus, I'm the strongest dude here, and I can't even punch through concrete!"

Oh God, the building was concrete?

"True," Ms. Tetslaff agreed, putting a hand to her chin in thought. "This is a mystery, for sure."

Danny held his breath as the teacher put some paper against the wall to block the hole. She turned back around and motioned for everyone to get back into the gym, so the students scrambled to get back in there quickly. Danny trailed behind the group, holding out his hands in front of him. Holy _shit_, he broke a wall. He winced. What would he tell his dad? That he had freaking super strength, or something? Is that a thing ghosts have in the first place? His musings were cut off by the start of class. Oh joy.

Forty minutes and three faceplants from accidentally turning your foot intangible later, school was over for the day. Danny and the other guys changed in the locker room before starting to leave the building, but Danny stayed behind to say goodbye to his new friend. Walking over to his locker, he put in his combo and waited for Sidney to appear. He smiled at his new friend when he appeared. "Hey, Sidney."

"Hello! How was your first day, pal?" He waved in response.

"It was okay, other than Dash shoving me all the time," the raven haired teen replied.

Sidney's eyes softened. "I know how that feels, buckaroo. Wish I didn't."

Danny sighed as he gathered his stuff. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

He started to put all of his books and notebooks into his backpack. "I was wondering if you were trapped in that mirror. It seems unfair if you are, you're a nice guy."

Sidney looked genuinely touched at the compliment given. "I've tried gettin' outta here, but the mirror seems to hate me. I've been in this stupid fake reality for a couple decades now."

Danny frowned in thought. "That sucks, dude."

"Yeah, it's unfortunate, but I've been okay!" Sidney grinned. Speaking of being unfortunate, Sidney was then whacked on the back of his head by a different student passing by him in the mirror. He winced, but continued to smile.

"What the hell was that?" Danny raised an eyebrow as he put his purple backpack on his shoulder.

"It's another student here. They aren't really _ghosts_, more like shadows of people that I remember picking on me. Real actors, lemme tell ya!" Sidney groaned as he looked around. "I'd love to leave, though."

Danny tapped his chin. "Maybe I can get you out?"

"What? How?"

He shrugged in reply. "Dunno, be right back, though."

Sidney watched his friend in confusion as the teen made his way to the bathroom. He then walked into a stall then locked it, making sure no one else was there. He transformed, which still took some concentration, but he was getting better with it. Danny did notice that his backpack disappeared when he went ghost, but shrugged it off as a ghost thing. He phased through the wall and grinned when Sidney gaped at the new ghost in front of him.

"D-Danny?"

His smile became wider. "Can't really fool another ghost with a new look, huh?"

Sidney chuckled in response. "No, I guess not! You look boss, though!"

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll, uh, take that as a compliment?" He then looked at the mirror with a frown on his face. "So about getting you out…" His eyebrows furrowed in thought, before his eyes widened and he snapped his fingers. "Move out of the way for a sec."

Sidney complied, moving out of view from the mirror. The halfa turned intangible, then dove for the mirror. His whole body shuddered as he passed through dimensions, landing on the other side in front of the locker (unfortunately landing on his chest). He rubbed his head then stood up, noticing that everything was monochrome, as well as Sidney cracking a grin at his pal.

"Well, that worked," Danny simply stated.

"Golly, you're here!" Sidney was practically bouncing. "Welcome to my prison-home!" He was then shoved by a jock, called a name, followed by laughter. He growled at the person, balling his hands into fists.

Pity welled up inside of the raven-haired teen as he glanced at the retreating sport player. "Now let's get out of here." Danny turned around and offered his hand, which the ghost happily accepted. Danny closed his eyes as he allowed his intangibility to flow from him to his friend, then he flew through the mirror to the other "side" of the school. They landed, sprawled on the floor in front of Danny's locker.

"Not my favorite form of travel, that's for sure," Danny grumbled as they both got up. Looking around to make sure no one was there, he turned human and grinned at Sidney. "Welcome to the human world!"

"Realm. It's more of a realm," Sidney corrected. However, he looked ecstatic. "I can't believe I'm here! I haven't seen color in person in years!" He gestured around him. "This is great!"

"I'm glad you like it, happy I could help," the halfa smiled. Suddenly, he looked worried. "But where are you gonna stay if you aren't in the mirror?"

Sidney blinked. "Oh. I didn't think of that." He shrugged. "I'll probably just haunt the halls of Casper High. Now that I'm out of that prison, I can use my powers easier!" To demonstrate, he started to float, turned invisible, then visible again. "Plus, the school has a secret closet that no one goes into anymore. It's covered by wallpaper, so no one will go in it!"

Danny smiled. "I can bring you some stuff, like a mattress or something so that you don't have to sleep on the ground." His face then contorted into confusion. "Wait, do ghosts sleep?"

"Of course! It helps replenish our energy, just like any average person," Sidney answered, puffing out his chest. "Ghosts are pretty similar to humans. At least the humanoid ones are, like me, which makes sense."

Danny nodded in agreement. "I guess it does, huh?" He smiled at his new friend. "Well, I've gotta go. My sister is probably waiting for me in the car, and she likes to maintain a schedule." He waved at Sidney and turned his back. "Bye, Sid!"

"Later, Danny!"

The teen smiled as he left the school and headed to his sister's car. His dad was going to _flip_ when he heard what happened today. First, he has a haunted locker, he made a ghost friend in the locker, broke said friend out of his prison in the locker, and now haunts the halls of his high school. Danny's eyes widened as he realized something.

He still had to tell his dad about the hole in the gym. Crud.


End file.
